Process for making syrup from sugar-beets.



.. HERBERT C. GORE, OF

N0 Drawing.

TAKOM'A PARK, MARYLAND, AND CHARLES 0; TOWNSEND, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICTOF COLUMBIA.

I rnoonss'ronfi vr iixme SYRUP FROM SUGAR-BEETS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed Ma ia 1915. r Serial to. 29,269.

, m m Oct. 5, 1915.

V (DEDICATED TO THE PUBLIC.)

address is WVashington, District of Columbia,) have invented a new anduseful Process for Making Syrup from Sugar-Beets.

This application is made under the act of March 3, 1883, chapter 14:8(22 Stat, 625), and the invention herein described and claimed may beused by the Government of the United States or any of'its oflicers oremployees in the prosecution of work for the United States, or by anyperson in the United States, without the payment of any royalty thereon.

Our invention relates to a process for preparing syrup from sugar beets.

In practising our invention, we first remove the crowns from the beetsand wash the product, and then cut the beets into thin chips or Shoes,preferably by means of a suitable vegetable cutter. Upon reducing theproduct to small sections or parts, we place the treated material in asuitable vessel or receptacle, adapted to be heated by any convenientmeans, and cover the chopped material with hot or cold water. We thenheat the vessel containing the treated beet material and water by directfire or by heat supplied from anyconvenient source until the temperatureof the mixture is raised to or near the boiling point. We then subjectthe mixture to such temperature for a period sufficient to extract sugarfrom the beet material. The time consumed for this purpose dependslargely upon the thickness ofthe slices or chips. We find that itusually takes from one-half hour to two or more hours to remove sugarfrom the sliced beet material by boiling. In practice, we havediscovered that the thinner the slices are out, the shorter the timerequired to remove the sugar from the beet sections. From experiments wehave ascertained that in cases where thin chipped beets are used, itonly requires about one-half hour of boiling to extract the necessaryamount of sugar from the beet product, and that in cases Where beetslices are used, which areapproximately one-quarter inch in thickness,it re- }quires about one and one-half hours to remove sufiiclent sugarfrom the beet for the. purpose of producing the product hereindescribed. During the period of boiling the mixture, we find that alarge proportion of the sugar and other diffusible substances in thesliced or chipped beets pass into the water,

and by treating the water absorbing the sugar and other diffusiblesubstances from the beet product in the manner as we hereinafterdescribe, a savory and delicious syrup can be produced. When the mixturespecified has been sufiiciently boiled to effect the removal from thebeet material a large proportion of the sugar and other diffusiblesubstances present in the product, we then remove the boiled beetproduct from the liquid by using a dipper having a perforated bottom, sothat the liquid scooped up with the beet material may drain back intothe kettle or vessel. It is desirable that all the beet material shouldbe removed from the liquid. At this stage the liquid has anobjectionable flavor; consequently, to remove this objectionable flavor,and to reduce the v liquid to syrup, we subjectthe liquid to furtherheat treatment. The liquid extract is slowly boiled down until itreaches the condition of syrup. During this process it is desirableoccasionally to skim the liquid or to remove therefrom particles ofsuspended matter Which are conducive to cause burning by sticking to thesides of the kettle or vessel under the surface ofthe boiling liquid.The liquid extract should be boiled from two to four hours, and we findthat it is advisable to boil the extract very slowly during the firstperiod of evaporation, and then boil the extract rather rapidly towardthe last, in order to avoid scorching the syrup. If the syrup isscorched, it will possess a bitter flavor. vWe find that, if the liquidextract is treated in the manner as herein described, the resultingproduct will consist of a syrup of delightful and pleasant flavor. Thebeet material removed from the heating vessel may again be treated inthe same way with fresh quantities of water for extracting therefromfurther amounts of sugar, but we prefer to discard the cooked beets,inasmuch as they can be used as a stock feed for cattle or hogs, ordevoted to any other purpose for which they may be adapted.

Having thus described our invention, we claim: I

1. A process for making syrup from sugar beets, consisting in removingthe beet crowns, washing the beets, and cutting them into finely dividedparts, placing the treated material in water, and subjecting saidmixture to heating at a temperature near the boiling point for a periodsufiicient to extract sugar from the fragmentary beet sections, thencompletely removing the beet particles and. subjecting the liquidextract for a time to a slow boiling and then for a time to a rapidboiling, for removing the objectionable beet flavor from said extract,substantially as specified.

2. A process for making syrup from sugar beets, consisting in removingthe beet crowns, washing the beets, and cutting them into small parts,placing the treated material in water and heating the mixture at aboiling temperature for a period suflicient to extract sugar from thebeet product, then co npletely removing the cooked beet material, andthen evaporating the liquid extractby boiling it slowly for a time andthen rapidly, until the liquid extract is boiled down to the conditionof syrup, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof, we aflix our signatures in the presence of twosubscribing wit- IIGSSGS.

HERBERT G. GORE. CHARLES O. TOWNSEND.

Witnesses:

L. B. FLENNER, M. A. WULFERT.

@opleu of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Extents,

Washington, D. C.

